Sunday, 31 October 2010

Courage Strong Ale 1920 - 1923

Details. That's what we need. More details. Here's a start. Courage Strong Ale just after WW I,

Courage Strong Ale 1920 - 1923

Date

Year

Beer

Style

OG

FG

ABV

App. Attenuation

lbs hops/ qtr

hops lb/brl

boil time (hours)

boil time (hours)

boil time (hours)

Pitch temp

dry hops (oz / barrel)

pale malt

black malt

crystal malt

no. 3 sugar

caramel

flaked maize

primings

total

15th Jan

1920

SA

Strong Ale

1054.57

1016.90

4.98

69.04%

6.29

1.37

1.75

1.75

1

60º

8.55

84.56%

2.21%

12.75%

0.49%

100.00%

5th Feb

1920

SA

Strong Ale

1054.57

1015.51

5.17

71.57%

6.66

1.45

1.75

1.75

1

61º

6.76

83.59%

2.34%

13.54%

0.52%

100.00%

20th Jul

1920

SA

Strong Ale

1053.46

1017.73

4.73

66.84%

7.96

1.87

1.5

1.5

1

59º

0.00

69.53%

18.50%

9.72%

1.31%

0.93%

100.00%

1st Jul

1920

SA

Strong Ale

1053.46

1016.34

4.91

69.43%

8.01

8.68

1.5

1.5

1

59º

0.00

66.06%

17.89%

9.17%

6.19%

0.69%

100.00%

31st Dec

1920

SA

Strong Ale

1053.46

1013.85

5.24

74.09%

6.39

1.49

1.5

1.5

1

63º

3.33

65.30%

17.68%

8.84%

5.89%

2.29%

100.00%

14th Oct

1920

SA

Strong Ale

1053.46

1015.79

4.98

70.47%

6.63

1.38

1.5

1.5

1

62º

3.99

65.02%

17.68%

8.75%

5.70%

2.85%

100.00%

16th Feb

1921

SA

Strong Ale

1053.46

1014.40

5.17

73.06%

5.25

1.21

1.5

1.5

1

62º

5.03

64.73%

17.40%

8.35%

6.26%

3.25%

100.00%

2nd Mar

1921

SA

Strong Ale

1053.46

1014.68

5.13

72.54%

5.77

1.33

1.5

1.5

1

63º

5.17

64.38%

17.60%

8.87%

6.44%

2.72%

100.00%

17th Nov

1922

KKK

Strong Ale

1073.41

1024.93

6.41

66.04%

11.02

3.39

2

2

1.5

58º

7.65

84.18%

1.90%

13.92%

100.00%

24th Jan

1923

KKK

Strong Ale

1073.41

1022.71

6.71

69.06%

11.00

3.35

2.5

2.5

2.5

58º

7.79

84.74%

2.14%

13.12%

100.00%

8th Nov

1922

XXX

Strong Ale

1053.46

1014.68

5.13

72.54%

5.42

1.25

1.5

1.5

1

62º

4.94

64.33%

17.72%

8.75%

5.91%

3.28%

100.00%

23rd Nov

1922

XXX

Strong Ale

1054.29

1014.40

5.28

73.47%

5.43

1.30

1.5

1.5

1

62º

4.87

64.45%

17.65%

8.18%

6.14%

3.58%

100.00%

15th Nov

1922

XXX

Strong Ale

1053.46

1012.19

5.46

77.20%

5.42

1.26

1.5

1.5

1

63º

4.84

68.37%

18.84%

9.30%

3.49%

100.00%

Source:

ACC/2305/08/251 and ACC/2305/08/253

You'll probably recall that Courage discontinued their KK in 1917. They didn't brew a Strong Ale again until 1920, when they introduced SA. It was parti-gyled with X Ale. KK had been its own specific brew, with a different grist to the X, the pricipal difference being the presence of crystal in the latter.

In 1922, the name of SA was changed to XXX, but the beer itself remained unchanged. At the same time a new beer, KKK, appeared. In terms of grist and gravity, this was essentially the same as the KK of 1917. Fascinating, eh? The recipe was pertty simple: loads of pale malt, quite a lot of No.3 invert sugar and a smidgen of black malt. Another difference was that KKK, unlike X and XXX, wasn't primed.

Seeing the two strands of Strong Ales intertwining at one brewery is compelling stuff. XXX was basically just a souped up Mild, while KKK resembled an Edwardian Burton.